Game and chill: Could Netflix’s latest venture raise the monthly cost?

Well, just when you thought the streaming wars could no longer surprise you, you see headlines like the ones this week. As the days go by, each streaming service struggles to stay relevant as content is tossed around between platforms. Netflix may have put streaming on the map as we know it, but the giant has certainly fallen from grace.

Netflix went from the only streaming service you need to know to a lackluster option among seemingly countless choices. However, this week’s headlines are showing Netflix has a new angle to get an edge on the competition. Rumors are saying Netflix will be adding video games to their service. So is there any truth to the gossip? Here’s what we found.

Before chill

This week, Nintendo Life reported Netflix will be expanding into video games. The move sounds massive, as most of us think of Netflix as a place to tune out. However, Netflix has had an incredible evolution over the years, and only some of us remember the early dark ages of the company.

Netflix was founded all the way back in 1997, when many zoomers were just coming into the world. Back then, Netflix wasn’t a household name, let alone part of a phrase plastered on everything from t-shirts to Ben & Jerry’s ice cream pints. Ancient millennials remember a time when Netflix wasn’t even a streaming platform.

Yes, us dinosaurs remember when Netflix was simply the coolest way to rent movies & series via snail mail. Remember the mail? Yes, we would physically send out our discs after a watch and anxiously await our next rental back in the day. Before we knew it, Netflix went full streaming.

Pioneer

Netflix made a major move when they pioneered streaming subscriptions as we know them in the late 2000s. 

Back then, Netflix was the only game in town offering streaming for major releases, and before long the Hulus & HBO Maxs of the world began popping up, and Netflix started creating its own content to separate itself from the competition.

Netflix originals are great or awful depending on who you’re talking to, but they represent Netflix’s ongoing expansion. The people behind the company say video games are the next step.

Mobile focus

Cnet reported this week that Netflix will soon offer video games to its subscribers. Video games will be available on mobile devices like smartphones & tablets. Reports say the video game business outdid the movie industry when an uptick in interest spread around the globe during lockdown in the early days of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Reports say mobile games will be Netflix’s focus when they move into the gaming world, but the company said all devices which support the streaming giant will potentially be used for gaming. 

Major consoles like Playstation & Xbox may eventually be thrown into the mix, as most of them support the streaming platform. We’re not sure what kind of games Netflix will bring to its subscribers, but the bigger question everyone wants the answer to is simple – Will video games affect Netflix’s monthly cost?

Freebie

Reports say Netflix won’t add any extra monthly cost when they begin offering video games to its subscribers. The monthly cost of Netflix has changed since the service was first offered, but reports seem to say if the monthly cost goes up any time soon, it won’t be because of video games.

That’s right folks, you won’t have to shell out more dough monthly when video games come to Netflix. The cost will remain the same, and reports say the games will drop within the next year. Netflix & chill will never be the same.

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